All Guns Blazing
by Shadow-Phoenix-Rider
Summary: After Rogun the Butcher's 'purge' of Rendia Frieght, it was thought only Captain Zavvi and Corso Riggs escaped. But when they find evidence to the contrary, they drop everything to go back to Tatooine to rescue him. Along the way, Corso begins to see a different side to the smuggler he loves. Contains a few spoilers for the beginning of Chapter 2.
1. In Harm's Way

"You are unbelievable, Captain!" Risha snapped angrily at the Twi'lek, who smiled crookedly at the mechanic from her chair. "You went into Port Nowhere and managed to get yourself caught in Rogun the Butcher's trap, and now you're working for the Republic!" She gestured uselessly. "How...How?"  
"Just another day on the job, Rish." Captain Zavvi replied sweetly. "Besides, we're privateers, not privates. That means we still get to do whatever we want, but the Republic will turn a blind eye if we harass the Imperials and they'll give us some legal protection as well as financial assistance. In return, we sometimes get called up to help them. So see, the deal isn't too awful!"  
The older woman snorted.  
"Well, that's better than what I expected...But I don't like the idea that we're at the Republic's beck and call." Zavvi scowled, standing up and straightening her back.  
"Well, how about you count the amount of jobs we've done for the Imps, then. Should only fit onto one hand, and it's going to stay that way. Now, I'm going to talk to Darmas, so if you've any disagreements to my decisions, please wait until after I finish with him." The Twi'lek walked straight past the woman, who gave a little sigh and looked out at the hyperspace that surrounded the ship.  
Risha had done some quiet research on the captain after she took back her ship, and to her surprise had found a rather boring and blank record, only upsetting a few people (unlike Rogun, they had just refused to work with her, instead of wanting her head on a platter) and being rather average. Things had only started to get exciting after her ship had been stolen and she'd waded first in a separatist outpost by herself, and then going into their stronghold with Corso and almost pulling the separatists down to their knees with ease. After that, there was the subject of her involvement in the _Esseles_ debacle, listed initially as 'unknown female spacer', but changed in later reports to 'Captain Zavvi', where she'd thumbed her nose at a Grand Moff. A string of occurrences in Coruscant were also traced back to her, and Risha had found herself intrigued by the Twi'lek, and also had seen the potential in the smuggler, so had stuck with her through the rough patches. And she'd been rewarded in the end, now she had her crown, the treasure of her legacy had finally been found and the infamous Jackal of the Stars having met his grave end, though strangely, neither Zavvi nor Corso would talk about what exactly happened there. Zavvi would blank her, whilst Corso would turn as white as a sheet and quickly excuse himself, his stubbornness as hard as Mandalorian iron and utterly impossible to break through, even if she chased him. Bowdaar was also unhelpful, but only because neither of them had told him; Corso and Bowdaar had become quite close and it'd been the wookie who Corso had told about the incident on Tatooine, and no-one else. So if the mercenary refused to tell even Bowdaar what exactly had happened in the Long Shadow, it must have really rattled him.  
Risha shook her head to move the thoughts from her head, thinking instead about how long Zavvi had managed to survive with Rogun's death mark between her lekku. As far as she knew, Zavvi was the longest living target that had Rogun's ire, though that would only increase their trouble. More bounty hunters would get bold enough to go after her, but also the fame would bring rewards too; profit...It was in Risha's interest to keep the Captain alive and well; not just because she was a friend, but a future queen would need powerful connections and money, and Zavvi looked like she would bring such things towards her...Eventually. But the mechanic had waited this long, she was sure she could wait longer. Besides, many aspiring gang leaders had their lives cut short for moving too quickly, so it wasn't too bad.

She just hoped Zavvi knew what she was doing...

* * *

"I think we all made it through before the noose tightened." The flickering blue image of Darmas Pollaran spoke, Zavvi leaning against the terminal. He looked down at her, his eyes twinkling. "I'm glad you did the same. Of all my fantasies of you, shackled as an Imperial captive was never my favourite." The Twi'lek smirked slightly; she'd brushed him off before when she was anxious about her ship being stolen, but now Zavvi felt safe, she figured some flirting wouldn't hurt, especially since the farm boy was busy repairing his durasteel armour from the skirmish on Port Nowhere.  
"I must admit, that's not one of my fantasies either." She said, with a relaxed grin. "Tell me, Darmas, what's our game plan now?"  
"I'll stay and make sure Port Nowhere doesn't land in any of Rogun's or the Voidwolf's little parties. You can think of her as a 'safe harbour' for our kind of folk. As for you, beautiful, go to Balmorra and wait for our call." Zavvi recalled the first mission Senator Dodonna had given the smuggler (or was it privateer now?) and her crew. She noticed a sly grin on Darmas' face. "And don't think this is all about serving the Republic either." He leant forward, as if sharing a dirty secret. "There's a fortune to made in this war. An enterprising individual such as yourself could end up with a criminal empire to rival Rogun's." Her eyes lit up first with a primal greed, and then with a flirtatious glint.  
"Criminal empire..." She purred, leaning forwards and letting a lekku fall suggestively over her front. "You make it sound so sexy..."  
Unfortunately she was so caught up with her flirting that she didn't notice the heavy footfalls that entered the main room and the scuffing noise of an arrested stride, so when the attached mercenary cleared his throat, the smuggler almost had a heart attack.  
"Did I say we could trust Darmas?" Corso interrupted, surprisingly casually as he perched on the stairs with an irritated look on his face, clearly none too pleased. "I meant not trust him. Ever." There was a very slight sliver of steel to his country drawl though, but it seemed to be completely ignored, especially by Darmas who seemed to just take it as a challenge, grinning sharkishly.  
"I can't think of anything sexier than a woman with a pile of credits, and her own private army." He grinned, and out of the corner of her eye, Zavvi noticed the farm boy's face contort most amusingly.  
"Ewwwww!" The young man groaned, suppressing the shudder that slid up his spine. It did have the effect of silencing him, however, allowing Zavvi and Darmas to finish their conversation.  
"I say that because there's a power vacuum in the underworld right now with the big names gone - Nok Drayen, the Hatcher, Ivory...But I have a feeling you'll be up there one day. Just keep that in mind when you're on Balmorra. The opportunities are there, you just have to take them." He gave her a wink, before his image flickered away.

Zavvi gave a great big sigh, flicking her wayward lekku back over her shoulder, looking over to Corso and not being surprised by the disapproving look on his face. She had hoped he wouldn't wander in when that had happened, but she figured he'd find out her flirting sooner or later and she couldn't keep relying on luck to keep her secrets.  
"I know you didn't want to walk in and see that, Corso." She said, turning around to him. She had to give it to him, he was trying to look like he didn't mind, but she knew better that he was annoyed, possibly angry at her. "But you don't need to worry about Darmas. You two are so different, that, that it's like night and day." She noticed his eyes change; he was listening intently now. "Darmas is the night. Sure, he's dark and mysterious and has a way with words like nobody's business. But as I'm sure you've noticed, that guy is old enough to be my father. I'm sorry, but I kinda like guys around the same age as me."  
"And what age would that be, if you don't mind me asking?" Corso said curiously. Zavvi raised an eyebrow.  
"Weren't you taught to never ask a lady her age, farm boy?" She commented with a smirk, Corso shaking his head.  
"Fine, Captain. But I'm twenty-two, if you were wonderin'." He replied, eyes twinkling.  
_Huh, that's interesting. I didn't realize we were so close in age; he seems younger._ Zavvi thought. _I can't believe he's older than me!_  
"Thing about Darmas though is that...There's something about him I don't like. He seems to know far, far too much. Sure, I don't doubt the fact he's well in the know, but it just doesn't feel right..." She eyed the mercenary, who just shrugged at her, so she sighed and continued with the comparison.  
"You, on the other hand, are the light. I feel like I can trust you, that if I turn my back to you the only thing you'll do is watch it to make sure nobody hurts me. Sure, you're a pain in the neck sometimes, but I never have to worry that you won't come through for me." She turned away from him, hiding her slight blush. "And, well, you...You're different. You mean what you say, and it isn't just something...throw-away, you know? And, there is something you have that no often man has ever managed to ever get." She walked over to him, her eyes locked to his. "You know me, Corso. You know my secret." She lifted her hand to self-consciously touch her headband, but he took it instead, pressing a kiss to the back of her glove. He shook his head.  
"I mean no offence, Captain." He murmured softly. "But I don't think I'll ever know you totally." A smile. "There's too much to you to ever know it all." The Twi'lek blushed, looking away again.  
"If, if you think so..." She mumbled shyly.

Before Corso could say more though, Risha entered the main room and Zavvi quickly yanked her hands free of his, pretending that nothing soft or romantic was going on between them, much to his chagrin.  
"I assume we have a place to be, Captain?" The mechanic drawled. "Or are we going to jump to a place in the middle of nowhere and stay there forever?" She was ignoring the disapproving glares from Corso, clearly perturbed at the interruption.  
"Yeah. Prepare a jump to Balmorra once we're out of hyperspace, but don't execute it just yet. We've got our first assignment there and we'll get more details once we've docked with the orbital station, but for now just wait." The smuggler replied, noting Risha rolling her eyes and Corso's seemed to sparkle. She looked to him as the older woman walked off, muttering something to herself. "What're you so keen about?"  
"Balmorra's known for some of the best weapons in galaxy. No wonder the Republic wants to get the planet back." He replied, previous injustice forgotten. Zavvi rolled her eyes.  
"Why am I not surprised you're over the moon about going to a planet that manufactures weapons? Just try to keep from bringing them all home farm boy, 'cos there isn't room on the ship." She grinned as he feigned hurt.  
"Captain! As if I'd do anything like that..." He cried, before he too grinned back.  
"I know you too well, farm boy. As soon as a pretty gun shines at you, you're all over her!"  
"Ah, well, maybe, but Torchy here," he patted his sidearm, back where she should be, "has nothin' to worry about." He smiled. _And neither do you, Captain.  
_"Anyway, all that aside, why exactly are you in here, Corso?" She asked, folding her arms. "I assume it's not just to cockblock Darmas." Corso blushed at her choice of words.  
"Ah, no, I wasn't here for that, Captain. I've just been wonderin'...Why are you so attached to the Republic? I'm not complainin' or anything, but the smugglers I've seen whilst working for Viidu play both sides. But you...You stick to just playing with the Republic. I was jus' wondering why it was, that's all." Zavvi sighed, closing her eyes briefly.  
"Sit with me, Corso." She spoke, and he bowed his head in a half-nod, following her to the couch nearby.

"There are many reasons I don't work for the Empire, Corso." She began. "First off, they enslave anyone who isn't a Sith Pureblood or a human. Even though I could be classified as a near-human, but I'm still an 'alien scum' in their eyes, so I'd be treated like dirt. And since I'm a Twi'lek, I give you three guesses as to where I'd end up." Corso grimaced.  
"Cantina dancer?" He replied weakly, the words sour to his tongue.  
"Got it in one. I'd be forced into a sleazy cantina wearing barely anything whilst guys leer and make grabs at me. And then a blaster bolt between my eyes when I have the temerity to fight back." She said stiffly, and Corso felt his hackles rise slightly. If anyone dared try anything like that on Zavvi, he promised himself he'd break them. That was if she hadn't already shot them for their immense folly. "So do you think I'd turn down an opportunity to crush them?" Her fists clenched, the slightest hint of muscles twitching beneath her leather clothing.  
"No." The Mantellian said quietly. "I understand, Captain." He understood the need for revenge, thinking about the separatists that had killed his family.  
"Besides, I was born and raised on Coruscant and my dad's in the Republic army." She added. "I doubt he'd be pleased if one of his daughters was working for the other side."  
"The Republic's not perfect." Corso admitted. "But at least they're tryin', unlike the Empire." She nodded as he closed his eyes. "I've never thought of it that way, that they'd have it in for you because you're different." As his brown eyes opened again, the Twi'lek saw that within the was an ingot of Mandalorian iron. "Gives me more of a reason to use the big guns now." he said darkly.  
"Thank you, Corso." Zavvi replied slightly awkwardly, still not really sure why she deserved such a man who was eager to defend her with his life.  
"When I came back from the Brigade with Torchy and Flashy, my old man told me something that's always stuck with me. 'Minute you fire a weapon, someone's getting hurt. it's your responsibility to make sure the good you do with it outweighs that harm.'" The smuggler heard echoes of her own father in his, her lekku twitching slightly.  
"Your father sounds like a good man." She almost whispered.  
"he was. Before Skavak took Torchy, I made sure she only fired on separatists. Figured every one I took down was one less family murdered." She eyed him as the bile of revenge rose in his voice. He checked himself. "Sergeant Boom Boom, I like to use against the Empire. Buy a Republic world another day of peace. makes pulling the trigger that much meaningful, you know?"  
"Mmmhmm." Zavvi nodded. "You just reminded me of my father and what he told me about blasters. I was about eight years old..."

* * *

_Thirteen years ago._

"Blasters are a lot more powerful than you think, titch." Kestrann told his youngest daughter. His skin was a royal blue, eyes a soft brown and his lekku had blotchy markings on it, reminiscent of camouflage. "If a person's not wearing protection, you can badly hurt or even kill them with one wrong shot, let alone a proper one. So make sure you know what you're doing and that it's your last resort." He lifted his daughter's wrists up, straightening her arms and gently correcting her grip. "Or, make sure they've got it coming to them and won't be missed." he pointed down the pistol's sights to the line of cans he'd placed along the wall specially for her training. "Try your aim on those."  
Zavvi was only small and the pistol was heavy, so her shaking hands made two shot fly wide, but the rest hit their marks. Her father laughed heartily at her success, the deep booming sound thrilling the youngster.  
"Well done titch!" He cried, kneeling down to turn the pistol's safety on and clapping her on the shoulder. "You'll be a gunslinger in no time!" Little Zavvi gazed up at Kestrann, light green eyes shining and her plain lekku swishing to and fro eagerly.  
"You really think so?" She bounced, making the older Twi'lek chuckle, kissing her forehead.  
"I'm sure of it. Or at least, I'll be safe in the knowledge that you can defend yourself if anything bad happens. Remember though, a blaster is not a toy. It's a weapon. Weapons are designed to hurt and kill. It may not be as powerful as the lightsaber your sister will one day wield, but it can and will still hurt people." Kestrann told her solemnly. "I don't ever want to catch you messing around with them, okay?"  
The little girl nodded seriously.  
"I promise, dad." She said, and Kestrann smiled.  
"Good. Now, let's tidy up before your mother home, hmm? She won't give you any noodles for dinner if she finds out you didn't help your daddy with the tidying up." he grinned as her little eyes sparkled.  
"Yay, noodles!" She squealed, quickly running over to collect the fallen cans.

* * *

_Present day.  
__  
_Corso had listened wide-eyed to the tale, though imagining his captain as a bright-eyed child was incredibly difficult, and he became aware of how much the brain injury must have changed her. But that didn't matter. He still liked her as she was now, and that was all that he cared about.  
"Your dad is a real good man." He murmured, nodding sagely. "Kinda explains why you usually try to get outta fights."  
"Yes." She replied, distantly. She was looking off into the ether at something he couldn't hope to see. "I owe my father a lot in making who I am."  
"Didn't know you had a thing for noodles, though." Corso grinned teasingly.  
"They've been my favourite food since I was six!" She exclaimed, lekku twitching. "Leave me alone."  
"I can cook noodles." Corso said, causing her to finally look at him.  
"You can?" She asked. "When did you learn to do that?"  
"My mom taught me." Corso answered, eyes twinkling. "Taught me until my sister was old enough to learn."  
"Fair enough." The Twi'lek folded her arms. "Is there anything else you want to talk about?"  
"Hmm? Oh, yeah! I guess I shoulda told you this first, actually." The young man smiled sheepishly as Zavvi pinched the bridge of her nose. "I just got some real good news. Somebody tried to access Viidu's old bank accounts from Tatooine!" She raised an eyebrow.  
"Why is that good news, Corso? It could be anyone." He shook his head.  
"The only one who had access to the accounts back then was our slicer, a Twi'lek kid, called himself Jettison. Good guy." Corso explained, and Zavvi's eyes widened.  
"So not all of Viidu's other people perished!" She realized, the mercenary nodding eagerly.  
"Maybe not!" His smiled turned sad. "Viidu's crew was like a family to me after mine were killed. I didn't think anyone had survived Skavak, Syreena and Rogun's bounty hunters. Dunno what he'd be doing on Tatooine though."  
Zavvi chuckled, wiggling her fingers.  
"I'm guessing you see a trip to Tatooine in our near future?" Corso scratched his neck.  
"Aw, that'd be a real favour, Captain." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Makes me wonder what got him so desperate that he tried to take a loan from a dead man's accounts..."  
"Nothing good, I suspect." The captain shook her head. "I'll go and piss Risha off and tell her to change the coordinates to Tatooine. Darmas can wait."  
"Thank you, Captain! I won't forget you did this for me." Corso beamed, which set Zavvi's heart a light and set off tingles dancing in her breastbone.

As they set off to tell Risha about the change in plans, Riggs filled her in on more of the details.  
"From what I can tell, the access attempt came from some village way off the beaten path. No name or anything. Really makes me wonder what he's doin' out there."  
"Only one way to find out, farm boy." She replied. _But I have a really bad feeling about this..._


	2. Shades of Grey

Tatooine was at the top of the list of Zavvi's most disliked planets, and this 'mission' she and Corso had set out on was not improving its favour. The cave they were travelling through reeked of foreboding; indeed, it couldn't have been worse unless there was a sign that read: 'this place is full of death, turn back'. The fact they'd had to sneak past a good few Sand People to reach this place had already made them uneasy. Still, they continued down the cave, coming across a more open cavern with a shimmering ray shield guarding it. There was a haggard woman hanging about outside (the gatekeeper?), and as they ventured closer, Riggs gently nudged the Twi'lek.  
'Slave collar.' He mouthed, pointing to the said object clamped to the back of her neck. As they approached, Zavvi figured to start soft.

"Hey, do you have a moment? We're looking for a stranger in your village."  
"A Twi'lek kid called Jettison." Corso piped up. "I got a call from him placed here."  
The woman shook slightly at their voices, and her own was wavery, not quite sane.  
"No strangers here. They don't like them. If you're smart, don't be one."  
"What's wrong?" Corso asked, his voice deepening to a growl. "What's goin' on behind that shield?" Zavvi's hands hovered by her blasters.  
"Busy. Busy time." The woman turned to them, eyes wide and staring. "It's feast day, you know." She began to collapse into a fit of unnerving giggles. "Taste's just like bantha!"  
Corso and Zavvi looked at each other, both alarmed though Corso's expression also carried worry and half-horror. However, the smuggler recovered first, affecting a grumpy look, and she strode forward, pushing past the mad woman.  
"We're not getting anything out of her. Come on, Corso."  
"Wait!" A hand lashed out and grasped her arm, Zavvi whirling around to press Sparkles' barrel to the woman's forehead. "Don't go pass the shield." The woman pleaded, now lucid. "They kidnapped me to be their doctor; I've treated them, dozens of them, for the laughing sickness." The smuggler lowered her weapon as the woman shivered. "There's only one way to get that - eating human flesh."  
Corso almost went as white as a sheet, and the Twi'lek felt her stomach knot nauseatingly.  
"Well, that certainly takes the prize in sick." She said, pulling her arm free before helping remove the slave collar from the woman's neck. "Thanks for the warning, though. Get yourself outta here; it's gonna get messy." The woman nodded and fled, Zavvi turning to slice her way past the shield.

The inner cavern housed a platform on which she could see an olive skinned, pretty battered male Twi'lek chained to a post, a fire smoking softly near him. A large group of pallor faced, ugly cannibals were lurking nearby, but she could sense the many pairs of eyes watching them from the holes in the walls. Her companion moved closer to her; they were walking into an ambush.  
The leader, his face almost looking like a skull, approached them, flanked by his equally grotesque lieutenants. He called out nasally to the others:  
"Set two more fires. These strangers shall be fresh meat tonight." The mercenary felt the bile rise in his stomach, and swallowed in a bid to keep it down.  
"Whoa, hold on there!" Zavvi cried. "Corso here is all muscle; stringy. And I'm on good authority that Twi'lek meat is bad for the heart!" The strength of Corso's disapproving look could make even a Jedi want to crawl under a rock to hide from such a gaze. Which explained why she was studiously ignoring it.  
"You mock us. You have no idea what it takes to survive in the desert." The leader grinned wildly, sanity gone within the desert sands he so fervently worshipped. "Her gifts are few. It is blasphemy to waste any flesh she provides."  
"Are you seriously trying to justify this?!" The mercenary snapped, both him and the smuggler readying their weapons.  
"Kill them!" The leader barked. "Save the organs!"  
"Let's get 'em." Riggs growled, and they quickly stood back to back as not only the lieutenants moved towards them, but a great many other cannibals crawled out from the cracks in the cavern walls to surge towards their prey. A quick assessment of their tactics brought a very basic answer; their aim was to overwhelm the two with large numbers.  
"Hey Corso, you thinking what I'm thinking?" She asked him, adjusting her position.  
"What'll that be, Captain?" Corso cried, Sparky taking out few cannibals. Zavvi grinned wildly, and breathed in deeply.  
"LET THEM HAVE IT!" She bellowed.  
"Oh yes!" Corso grinned wildly, eyes flashing.

In one smooth, rehearsed movement, they switched the settings on their blasters and they leant up against each other, Zavvi's lekku moved to her front so the mercenary's bulk wouldn't flatten them. His shield generator whirred to life, its field enveloping the both of them (though only up to Zavvi's elbows), and they raised their guns, holding the trigger down, Sparky, Flashy and Sparkles spitting forth a continuous stream of orange, green and blue bolts towards their targets.  
"It's working!" Corso yelled above the noise as they began to turn in a circle.  
"I never doubted it wouldn't!" Zavvi yelled back, watching at the masses being felled by the technique.  
"You've got a lot of faith in me, Captain!" He laughed.

This circle of death was working wonders; those too stupid to see the danger were cut down easily, crumbling to the floor with gurgles and blaster burns. Those who were wounded limped away, though some were crushed beneath their fellows as they started to realize that maybe charging head on towards two people with blasters wasn't the most intelligent way to get things done and they tried to get away.

As they saw the group diminish, the couple flicked their weapon settings back to normal, springing from each other's sides into combat; Zavvi with a lithe elegance that would cause Corso's heart to skip every time he saw it, and him with a roaring jetpack, barrelling into a whole group of them.  
"There's more where this came from!" He taunted, Sparky booming loudly. His shield hissed in warning as someone attempted to attack him with a vibroblade, and he spun around to deal with the attacker.  
Zavvi, meanwhile, was hopping from cover to cover to make sure they couldn't surround her, managing to shoot one of the leader's lieutenants square between the eyes. She noticed some of the cannibals were wisely deciding to give up on them and were retreating back into their cave homes to rest and recover from their wounds. Satisfied they wouldn't be a threat any more, she let them slip away, only concentrating on those who still wanted a piece of her and her companion.

The cannibal leader, however, had much more intelligence than his fellows, and he was staying back, hidden in the bulk of his 'forces' as he planned his move. Due to the Twi'lek continually moving around, he decided that the mercenary would be his target, as he stayed pretty much rooted to the spot, reckless in the knowledge his shield would protect him from most things.  
The leader began to sneak up on him, moving slowly and pulling his vibroblade from its sheath and activating it; the surrounding noise masked it easily. Due to his status, his followers moved away as he approached, allowing him to quickly close in on his prey, just as the last of his lieutenants found their end thanks to Flashy's blaster bolts. He kept the Mantellian's back to him, and soon he was almost on top of him, until Zavvi saw the danger out of the corner of her eye. She raised Flashy and pulled the trigger...only to have the pistol cough sadly and power down. The continuous fire setting she'd used earlier had drained its power cell dreadfully, and the resulting fight afterwards had finally exhausted it; Sparkles wouldn't be any better.  
"Corso!" She cried out, just as the older man seized Corso's shield generator and tugged it free, deactivating it. The mercenary spun around as this happened, eyes widening at how close this guy had gotten without his notice and with an activated vibroblade. Zavvi hurled a fragmentation grenade at the cannibals nearby her, thinning their numbers as she tried desperately to get to Corso in time. The mercenary threw Sparky up in a bid to defend himself, when the leader lunged.

Everything seemed to slow down. Zavvi was sure she opened her mouth to yell something, but nothing seemed to come out. The blade came down, above the thigh plating, Corso going to block but not being quick enough and a humming that seemed to surround everything as it went down, down, down...  
Everything froze when the blade passed the black cortosis weave underarmour and hit flesh. Corso opened his mouth into a cry of pain, his brown eyes flashing with agony, and blood beginning to well up from his wound, bright red in colour which made Zavvi's heart clench. Her mentor's words echoed in her head; a brief lesson in how to treat wounds after a battle:  
"_You must be careful with any wounds to the thigh, especially close to the groin. A major artery runs through here, and if ruptured you will bleed to death in fairly short order, and without medical help. It's deep inside, but anyone with a sharp enough knife or a powerful enough blaster could do major damage there."_

The Twi'lek watched the injured leg buckle beneath the Mantellian, who defiantly held up his rifle for defence, not taking his eyes off his attacker for even a moment; a valiant last stand worthy for such a toughened mercenary. It was then that the darkness came, riding on the thrantas of Zavvi's fury, and it closed her vision down to a mere tunnel, as well as her mind. She pulled the vibroknife she kept in her boot, and single-mindedly stormed towards the leader. The other cannibals must have sensed the danger radiating from the smuggler, as they wisely quailed away from her and let her pass, her eyes as frosty as Hoth ice. Corso was managed to do quite well, batting away the leader's vibroblade attacks with Sparky, as his power cell was now also out and unable to help, and the other cannibals that hadn't fled were watching their leader fight, almost as if it was a ritual. Yet they didn't make a move to warn their leader an extremely angry Twi'lek was approaching him from behind; whether it was from fear she'd attack them or something else wouldn't ever be known. Corso saw her appear from the crowd right behind the leader, who was grinning manically at the downed mercenary, and his eyes widened as he saw her raise the knife up high, glinting in the light.

The leader didn't ever see it coming. Zavvi drove her vibroknife hilt deep into the back of the leader's head, causing his eyes to open wide with shock, before the light went out, and he slumped, the Twi'lek pulling her blade free with a tug, dark blood flooding out of the cavity. She turned her murderous intentions on the stunned crowd, pouncing on the closest to bury the blade into his heart. Seeing their leader and his lieutenants dead, and with a very pissed off smuggler that seemed bent on sending them all to the Void, the rest of the cannibals fled back to their homes in the cavern, hiding in the shadows where she hopefully couldn't get them.

The darkness in her was broken when she heard Corso groan, and she quickly rushed to his side, finding her vision open up again, and whilst her anger bled away, it was being replaced by fear for Corso's life.  
"Don't move, Cor." She said, as he tried to get up. "They won't be coming back for a while anyway." She went over to his left leg, oozing blood at a rate that alarmed her, but she forced herself to calm. _Assume the worst, but always check._ She reminded herself, her mentor's words still clear to her even now. The smuggler pulled out bandages, a kolto patch and a damp cloth from her pack on her belt, pulling off her glove to gently inspect the wound. She winced as he did, using the cloth to clean up the gash and to her relief she discovered the struggle between Corso and the leader had thrown off the latter's aim, and he'd only slashed the young man, which produced a nasty looking injury, but it wasn't life threatening. It just looked gnarly.

Corso noticed the tension in her shoulders ease, and tilted his head to the side in curiosity.  
"What's up, Captain?" He asked, flinching a little as she cleaned the wound up as best as could.  
"I thought you were badly hurt, but it's fine, it's just a scratch." Zavvi replied, relief sloughing fear off her like old skin. "You'll be up in a sec, hang on." She peeled off the kolto patch and gently sealed it onto his wound, closing it neatly, before wrapping the bandages around it to shield it from getting peeled off or from getting full of sand. "There you go. Try that."  
Corso shifted, and she noticed hints of muscles rippling beneath to the underarmour. He winced slightly, but slowly rose to his feet.  
"Hurts a little, but nothin' that kolto won't fix." He said, testing his weight on it and finding it fine, and reaching a hand to her. "Come on, let's free Jet."  
"Yeah, let's." She took it.

* * *

Jettison looked like he'd seen a ghost as they came over, Corso with the barest hint of a limp.  
"C-Corso, is that you?" He asked, gazing up at the mercenary with wide and hopeful eyes. "How did you...? I didn't think I'd ever...oh." He said as Zavvi took her bloodied knife and cut him free. She and Corso helped him to stand up as he briefly recanted his tale on how he ended up here, touching Corso's arm to make sure he wasn't a mirage. "I heard these guys took in strangers who were new to the planet, and then they locked me up and..." He swallowed hard. "Were they going to eat me?"  
"Better that you don't ask." Zavvi reassured him with a wave of her hand.  
"How'd you end up here, Jet?" Corso asked him, changing the subject. "I thought Syreena and Rogun got the whole crew."  
"I had the sec cameras wired to my comm; saw it all go down." Jettison murmured sadly. "Started running and didn't stop 'til I hit Tatooine. I was trying to start over. After what Syreena did and with Rogun around...I've been too scared to go into anyone's systems." He hugged himself. "It was kind of a game to me, working for Viidu. It never really hit home that we were committing crimes, that people could die..."  
"Hey, it's alright now..." The Twi'lek said, patting his shoulder and feeling her heart go out for him. He seemed even younger than Corso and herself, and she began to think that Viidu was a rather soft hearted man who took people under his wing as some sort of father figure. That made her think fondly of the man, but also resent his death more. He was a nice guy! Why did he have to die and jackasses like Rogun live? The galaxy just wasn't fair sometimes.  
"I've got nothing now; no place to go, no money..." Jettison continued sadly. "I was hoping I could take something from Viidu but..." He shook his head, looking imploringly up at the Mantellian. "Corso, is there anything you..."  
The mercenary smiled warmly at his old crew mate, resting his own hand on Jet's unoccupied shoulder.  
"Don't worry Jet. We'll take care of you, won't we, Captain?" He turned to her, his brown eyes holding a look that could twist Zavvi's arm around most things, but in this situation it wasn't required.  
"Of course. If you want to do right by the kid, who am I to argue? Besides, I wouldn't leave anyone on Tatooine unable to fend for themselves." Zavvi replied, shrugging slightly.  
"Let's go back to Anchorhead." Corso decided. "Should be people there who owe me and the Captain a good turn. I'll try and set you up with some legit work." He frowned, not unkindly. "I think you've had enough of the wild side."  
"I'll say!" Jettison replied, nodding happily. "Thank you, Corso. I can't think of anyone from the old crew I'd rather have find me." He turned to look at Zavvi with a serious look on his face. "There's no-one more loyal than Corso, Captain. You're lucky to have him."  
She nodded, light green eyes twinkling as she looked at the Mantellian.  
"Oh I am, more than you know."

* * *

The way back to Outpost Thorazan in the Dune Sea was a fairly arduous one with a weakened Twi'lek, as they had to skirt around any packs of Sand People that lurked around the dunes. Thankfully, Corso had brought some spare power cells for their weapons, so they at least had them in case of an emergency, but all decided that avoidance was better than confrontation, as if these power cells ran dry too, they were not in the best position to survive in the desert.

It was just past midday, and the heat had not yet abated, so they trudged on to the outpost without many words, taking a rest in the shade once they found themselves within the embracing walls. As Zavvi went to rent some speeders for them, Jettison and Corso got talking, Corso telling him of his adventures with the captain so far, which had his friend enraptured.  
"So that's how you found me..." He said when Corso finished.  
"Yeah. Figured the least I could for him was not let someone steal all his money. Just in case he has family, you know? Never know if they might need it or anything." Corso said, leaning back against the cool wall. He couldn't wait to get out of his heavy armour and have a shower. Credit to his captain for having a water shower on the _Skylark_ instead of those sonic ones; they just didn't have that feeling of relaxation the other had.  
"I guess." Jettison replied, gazing off to where Zavvi was negotiating with the speeder vendor. "She's really pretty, isn't she?"  
Corso couldn't help it; he felt his hackles prickle with jealousy, but tried to keep it out of his voice. For the captain's sake, he was trying not to pre-empt things.  
"Yeah, she is." Corso nodded his agreement instead. "She's one hell of a captain, and there's no-one I'd rather be working for." Jettison pulled his knees up to rest his arms.  
"I bet. I'm jealous of you, Corso. You get to work with her all the time..."  
"Hey, I said I'm getting you out of this wild life." The mercenary coolly reminded him. "I ain't putting you back in it. Besides, it's not always easy, ya know. We get into some really sticky situations sometimes. I mean, we have to go to Balmorra next."  
"Balmorra? But isn't there a war going on there? Why are you going there?"  
"Our contact didn't give us much details. Says he'll tell us when we actually get there." Corso shrugged, looking up as Zavvi came over, and giving Jettison a little glare when he looked at her rather fawningly.  
"I've got speeders for us. They haven't got anything bigger than two seaters, so you'll have to ride with Jet, Corso. I trust you two will be alright with this?"  
"You'll be alright on your own?" Jettison asked, the mercenary wincing as he knew that would rub the female Twi'lek up the wrong way.  
"You think I've always needed Corso to look after me?" Zavvi asked sharply, straightening her back and giving Jettison a look that made him feel about half an inch tall. "I've been working as a smuggler long before I met him, and I managed very well, thank you very much!"  
As much as the young man felt sorry for his friend, a part of him was glad he'd made that mistake, as he didn't have to worry about competing with someone with a crush on her.  
"Right, let's get moving. I'll lead; you watch my back, Corso. And make sure Jettison doesn't fall off." The captain spoke gruffly, gesturing to the speeders. "I'm sure we don't want to stay in this heat any longer."  
"Aye, Captain." The mercenary nodded, helping Jettison up and leading him to the speeder they were going to be sharing.  
"Wow, she can be so sharp..." The young slicer murmured to him. "How do you put up with her?" Corso grinned at him, eyes flashing in the twin suns.  
"Well, first thing, I'm not doubting that she is capable of anything. She kinda doesn't appreciate it if people underestimate her." He replied, glancing over to his captain with a small smile.

* * *

It was off to Balmorra at last, after they'd got Jettison some medical treatment and a pass for a shuttle that would take him to Carrick station, which would be a good start for a young slicer looking for work, especially with some back-up from Zavvi and Corso.  
She was now standing on the bridge, watching hyperspace swirl before her, deciding that she would prefer to avoid Tatooine as best she could for the foreseeable future, as the place was not appealing itself to her. Though she had to admit, having a cold shower after being in such sweltering heat for such a long period of time was akin to touching heaven. In fact, both she and Corso shared that opinion, and they'd had a brief tussle about who was getting the shower first, pushing and shoving each other at the door (whilst dissolving into laughs and giggles) to the extent that Risha had told them to knock it off, that if they wanted to do stuff like that, could they please do it in a room and not out in public. That had made Corso blush quite a bit, and Zavvi had managed to wrangle her way in by appealing to his gentlemanly protocol of letting ladies go first.

As far as she knew, he was taking the shower right now. Her mind began to indulge her on exactly what that would entail, and she stood there a while, gazing into the middle distance as she imagined him washing over those prominent muscles, water running all over and through the furrows in his skin, one hand drifting lower and lower down his body...

She jumped as she heard the bridge door slide open with a soft hiss, blushing when she saw it was Corso, his dreadlocks still a little sodden from his shower, now in casual clothes rather than his heavy armour.  
"Hey Captain." He said softly, standing beside her, unaware she was hiding her blush from him.  
"Heya, Corso." She replied, shuffling her feet a little in a bid to defuse her rather crimson face. "How's your leg holding up?"  
"It's fine now, Captain. Good as new." He grinned at her. "I just heard from Jettison too. He's recovering, and is goin' back to Ord. He's looking for a job handling HoloNet security for the governor. Glad to know he's okay, you know? One thing to point at and say; 'we did some good here'."  
Zavvi raised an eyebrow in surprise.  
"Are you forgetting the hundreds of other people we've saved?" She asked, slightly incredulously.  
"No, of course not." Corso replied. "But what I mean is there's always something more going on - money, or politics, or something." He frowned sadly. "What I was growin' up, good was good, and bad was bad, ya know?" Zavvi noted that when Corso got passionate about a subject, his accent slipped slightly. "Now, it's all these shades of grey! And even those aren't always true!"

"I know." The smuggler sighed, and moved closer to him, resting a hand on his arm. "You think I don't wish sometimes for an easier life? Sometimes I wish I was still a child, when I can just play all day and the worst thing in my life was school homework. Before what happened with mum and my injury..." She trailed off a moment. Corso was intrigued by her mention of something happening with her mother (of whom he'd noted she rarely talked about, and tried her best never to mention), but decided not to prod her about it, as he was pretty sure she'd be reluctant to tell him about it just yet. "But you don't get anything by just wishing and pining. You've just gotta take what the days give you and make the best outta it." She looked up at him. "You do good things, and change the galaxy in small ways, make it a better place in little ways, for a few people at a time. Helps you get through the days."  
"Yeah." The mercenary nodded, resting a hand on top of hers. "It does." He smiled. "I'm glad we do that, Captain. I don't think I'd be able to stay here if we were just chasing credits and not helping anyone."  
"Credits are important." Zavvi reminded him. "But if I was just living for them, I wouldn't be living a very happy life. I couldn't live like that." She looked over to Corso with a smile. "I'm glad your share my thinking. I know Risha doesn't, but I can't help who I am. My dad puts his life before others every day, like you do. Credits aren't people, they're just...things. You can make more credits, but you can't bring back people."

Corso nodded, and pulled the smuggler into a hug, which she accepted gratefully, leaning her head against his chest. They stayed like this awhile, unaware of Bowdaar passing by the door further down and seeing them there. He made no noise to alert them to his presence, though he smiled to himself, choosing to keep this knowledge away from Risha, letting the couple have their time together.  
Eventually, though, Zavvi squirmed her way out of his grasp and sat down in her captain's chair, Corso slipping into the chair on her left and looking a little thoughtful. She noticed this, turning her chair towards him.  
"Credit for your thoughts, farm boy?" She asked.  
"I was jus' thinking about that craziness back on Tatooine." Corso explained, frowning slightly. "What makes a person desperate enough to start seeing his fellow men as," he swallowed in digust, "meat?"  
Zavvi shrugged.  
"I dunno, but if we ever have to resort to cannibalism, I've got dibs on Risha!" The Twi'lek said, grinning as she watched his eyebrows shoot up.  
"Captain, that's horrible!" The Mantellian exclaimed, with a shock that made her giggle. Then a grin flashed across his lips. "You're gonna share, right?"  
"I'm not sure there's enough of her to share. You'd have to eat the wookie!" She grinned.  
"Ah, no, I'll think I'll eat my boots." Corso conceded with a chuckle.  
"Aw, am I not good enough to eat?" The smuggler asked, affecting a sad look and trying not to smirk when he caught the implied innuendo and blushed hard. Harder when he realized the said innuendo was two pronged.  
"Uh, well, er..." The young man looked away, trying to find something he could say and failing quite badly. Her musical giggle made his blush even worse, the redness creeping over his face.

Thankfully, the _Skylark_ itself came to his rescue, as the alarm went off as the freighter dropped out of hyperspace, Balmorra looming up before them. Zavvi looked it over with a critical eye, all thoughts of teasing Corso wiped away with its presence.  
"Looks pretty peaceful." He commented warily as the Twi'lek took manual control of her beloved ship, steering it towards the Republic waystation in orbit nearby.  
"Yeah, but so did Ord." She reminded him. "And your planet was pretty wrecked. I just hope Balmorra's not as bad." She said, looking over to him. "Go get the Sergeant, Corso, because I think we've got a lot of Imps to get through. Go on, I can handle docking by myself." She waved him away, completing the procedure with ease whilst she chattered to the station controller.  
No sooner had she got the _Skylark_ settled and shut down, the holocomm began to chime for her attention, though she wasn't sure if it wasn't just a sarcastic version of perfect timing.

"Well then, let's get this over and done with." She muttered to herself, striding to the main room, where her crew had gathered. She looked to each one of them in turn, with a slight smile reserved only for Corso, before she announced; "Right, let's see what Darmas has for us, shall we?"


End file.
